Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden, South Africa

Common name: uintjie, peacock moraea

Family: Iridaceae (Iris)

Distribution: Western Cape, Piketberg to Gordon's Bay and Ceres

Habitat: Clay flats and lower slopes of renosterveld and alluvium fynbos

National red list: Vulnerable

Life form: Geophyte (bulb, corm or tuber - seasonally dormant)

Comments: Moraea was once a common lowland endemic, but well over 80% of its habitat has been lost to farming and urban expansion especially around Cape Town to Somerset West/Gordon's Bay. It probably only remains at 16 of the 62 historical locations.
The only large populations that remain are below Gydo Pass and on the Piketberg. All other extant subpopulations are severely fragmented, occurring between wheat fields or in urban areas that are seldom burnt, are small (typically fewer than 20 plants) and declining due to habitat degradation as a result of undesirable nutrient inputs and alien plant invasion.